No Blade of Grass (1970) review

NO BLADE OF GRASS 1970

Nigel Davenport (John Custance), Anthony May (Andrew Pirrie), Jean Wallace (Ann Custance), John Hamill (Roger Burnham), Lynne Frederick (Mary Custance), Christopher Neame (Locke)

Directed by Cornel Wilde

The Short Version: Rarely seen 'End of the World' movie goes for the throat in its depiction of a worldwide meltdown after an unknown virus destroys Earth's agricultural food sources such as grass and grains. A band of survivors attempt to make the trek to a farm further north and encounter all manner of savagery along the way, and indulge in some of their own. Wilde's movie even tosses in a marauding motorcycle gang. Occasionally bloody and frequently sadistic, NO BLADE OF GRASS is not a good time at all. It's a thought provoking, experimental, overly political, and vicious movie that goes off the rails as a serious societal warning when it embraces exploitational shenanigans.

A mysterious and devastating plague erupts around the world that wipes out grass and other grain sources resulting in worldwide famine and starvation. Anarchy, panic, violence and cannibalism are the outcome. A family led by John Custance attempt to make it to England's northern territory to his brothers farm. Along the way they pick up additional survivors and engage in assorted confrontations with thugs, the military and a biker gang on their dangerous and savage trek to start a new life.

It's difficult to say one enjoyed a movie like NO BLADE OF GRASS. It's an ugly, heavy handed "warning label" for a possible future generously littered with documentary footage of pollution and dead animals. The film begins on an extremely melancholic note with a five minute visual cacophony of bleak imagery backed by the somber vocals of Roger Whittaker singing the main title theme. The film ends much the same way, but with an even less sense of hope and an even greater sense of despair.

Cornel Wilde's taut, depressingly angry disaster movie is essentially a 97 minute exploitation picture decked out in 'message movie' attire. It's a string of vignettes, violent encounters for the pictures dwindling band of human survivors to endure till they reach their destination; the "holy grail" of a farm where a new life supposedly awaits them. Possibly the first such film of its kind to emerge at the dawn of the 70s, its failure to find an audience did not impede other 'End of the World' scenarios found in such works as THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN (based on Michael Crichton's book) from 1971 and THE OMEGA MAN in 1973; the latter picture from Richard Matheson's novel, I Am Legend, a book already brought to the screen the first time in 1964 as the creeptastic Vincent Price vampire tale, THE LAST MAN ON EARTH.


NO BLADE OF GRASS itself is based upon a 1956 novel by British author John Christopher under the title of The Death of Grass. Incidentally, the books US edition bore the No Blade of Grass moniker, this title being the one chosen for the MGM financed production. Christopher's novel was possibly influenced by George R. Stewart's cataclysmic novel Earth Abides, a 1949 post apocalyptic tale about mankind's destruction by an airborne virus and its eventual rebirth.


The script, co-written by director Wilde, seems to follow the pattern laid down by actor Ray Milland's own directorial effort PANIC IN THE YEAR ZERO from 1962. That film substituted a nuclear attack for this films grain and grass obliterating virus. Both films explore the need to survive and the lengths, or depths civilized society will go to protect themselves and their families.

The subject of a learned society succumbing to savagery was also explored in a classic and equally intense 1961 TWILIGHT ZONE episode written by Rod Serling entitled The Shelter from season three.

As per the more permissive decade, Wilde's movie is punctuated with brutish scenes of violence that, while not excessive, carries a sordid, disturbing tone. These moments are made even more unsettling during intermittent instances of juxtaposition such as a group of Londoners enjoying a hearty meal, oblivious to the emaciated, dying African child succumbing to starvation on a television monitor. Another such instance is a birthing sequence that intercuts a flashback to the protagonists then newborn daughter with one of the plague survivors giving birth to a dead baby on the road.

Wilde was seemingly fascinated with the dark recesses of man's psyche having explored civilized man's propensity for savagery in his works such as THE NAKED PREY (1966), BEACH RED (1967) and also in SHARK'S TREASURE in 1975. While those films concentrated on a group of individuals thrust into life-threatening ordeals (an African safari, a Japanese controlled island in WW2, shark infested waters off the coast of Honduras respectively), NO BLADE OF GRASS widens the playing field by placing the entire planet into a state of anarchy culminating in a "new" dystopian society where savagery, wanton murder and cannibalism (we never see anybody being eaten, but we hear about it) are the answers to survival.


If there was one film that was influenced by Wilde's downer, cinematic bomb, it would likely be Toshio Masuda's PROPHECIES OF NOSTRADAMUS (1974), Toho's own entry in the 'Armageddon' sweepstakes. It's a nasty little number that was, and still is banned in its own country and was cut off at the kneecaps for its US release under the title LAST DAYS OF PLANET EARTH. Toho's earlier, livelier, but still moderately disturbing GODZILLA VS. HEDORAH (1972) tackled similar ecological disaster themes in much the same way Wilde's film does with its imagery of toxic pollutants and a more upbeat mantra on saving the Earth.

Back in America, eco-disasters soon poured over into the 'Nature Amuck' movies reaching a pinnacle of sorts with the little seen PHASE IV (1974) and denigrating itself in AIP's moneymaking THE FOOD OF THE GODS in 1976. A cure for serious endeavors like NO BLADE OF GRASS (1970) had been found by this point in the decade. That the film slipped in and out of circulation with little notice is as depressing as the film itself.


A bit ahead of its time, later pictures like DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978) would appear to draw some influence from it. Similar disaster movies would crop up in later years such as the frightening THE DAY AFTER (1983) and even the later apocalyptic horror picture STAKE LAND (2010) share a grim kinship with Cornel Wilde's neglected curio.

There's some missteps, too, that lessen the impact and seriousness of the narrative. These lacking moments are taken up mostly during an overlong assault by a motorcycle gang wherein the horned helmet wearing bikers attack the heavily armed nomadic bunch like ducks in a shooting gallery. In a particularly questionable move, the bikers attack from the bottom of the hillside.

Still, even this sequence finishes quite well in quick cuts showing these formerly normal, non-violent folk overpowering the imposing bikers in close quarters combat.

Burnell Whibley's score is also a bit of a letdown. The pulsing, heartbeat-like cues do well to create tension, but the rock styled tracks do nothing but take away from the doom-laden atmosphere especially in some of the attack scenes, particularly during a rape sequence early on.

There's also a bizarre editing choice employed by the director with some color tinted shots that foreshadow things to come. Presumably an experimental touch, they're not necessary and, at least in my opinion, lessen the impact of those sequences to a degree when they occur.


The performances are good across the board, especially Nigel Davenport as the former military man who must apply his wartime knowledge to an all new battle for survival. Davenport's character wears an eye patch and even with this hindering accoutrement, manages to elicit the right amount of nuance in certain scenes where he is forced to slip into barbarity for the safety of his family. There is a rivalry of sorts between Custance and crack shot Andrew Pirrie, played to the hilt by Anthony May. There's a hint of a rift between them in relation to leadership of the group. It rears its ugly head on a few occasions and adds another layer of tension to an already incendiary plot.

Lynne Frederick debuts here as Mary Custance and does fine with what few moments she's allowed to speak. Probably her best scene is the stand-off between Custance, Pirrie and Mark when Pirrie claims "ownership" over her; to which her boyfriend, Mark, takes great issue. The scene doesn't end the way you think. Hammer fans will of course recognize the late Frederick from VAMPIRE CIRCUS (1972). She also reunited with Davenport in the aforementioned, surreal and recommended doom and gloom science fiction picture, PHASE IV (1974).

The horror tinted NO BLADE OF GRASS may have evaded its audience theatrically, it can at least be seen by 70s film enthusiasts and science fiction fans via the Warner's Archive Collection. It's an unusually violent movie, and devastatingly poignant in places, even if it sometimes clobbers its message over your head in between shootings, rapes and overall savagery.

This review is representative of the Warner Archives Collection DVD.

Reel Bad Cinema: Assignment Terror (1970) review

 
EL HOMBRE QUE VINO DE UMMO aka DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN

Michael Rennie (Dr. Odo Warnoff), Karin Dor (Maleva/Melissa Kerstein), Craig Hill (Inspector Tobermann), Manuel De Blas (Count John Mierhoff), Ferdinando Murolo (Farancksalan's Monster), Gene Reyes (Mummy)

Directed by Tulio Demichelli

The Short Version: This ambitious, yet terribly troubled Spain-Germany-Italy co-production is a great deal of fun, despite being a jumbled, insanely nonsensical mess. Paul Naschy returns as his classic wolfman, the Polish Waldemar Daninsky, although he's more of a supporting role this time out. He doesn't even utter a line of dialog till nearly 50 minutes into this 83 minute movie. Michael Rennie, in his last role, plays an alien; this time a low-rent Klaatu bent on taking over the Earth after their own planet freezes to death likely because somebody failed to pay the heating bill. Apparently, money was in short supply funding this lively, if childishly silly monster packed mini-epic.

Aliens led by Michael Rennie from the planet Ummo plan to conquer the Earth by using the many superstitious fears of earthlings against them. This plan involves amassing a motley clutch of legendary monsters with plans of cloning them to use as an army to overthrow mankind. They first resurrect a vampire named Count Mierhoff whose remains are on display in a magicians carnival act. Next, they bring Waldemar Daninsky back to life after performing an operation on him removing a silver bullet from his chest. Then it's off to Egypt for our alien entrepreneurs to unleash a mummy which is revived by a large golden cross. I'm serious. You can't make this shit up.

  

Their final task is to bring to life Dr. Farancksalan's Monster. Dr. Frankenstein apparently threatened to sue for the use of his name and likeness so this Farancksalan fellow took his place. Meanwhile, Inspector Tobermann immediately cries 'monsters are on the loose' and sets out to stop them. The aliens, having apparently seen the 'By Any Other Name' episode of the original STAR TREK, discover the capacity for love and jealousy within their human shells that brings about their eventual downfall. The film climaxes with Toberman and Daninsky in a handicapped tag team match against the vampire Count John Mierhoff, the Mummy and the lumbering Creature.

This bizarre, thoroughly bonkers Naschy mish-mash vies with VENGEANCE OF THE ZOMBIES (1972) and the Spanish cut of THE FURY OF THE WOLFMAN (1973) as the wackiest Spanish horror flick on the Euro icons resume. It's from the same director as the horrible, if judiciously sadistic Eurocrime non-epic RICCO (1973), which should tell you the level of insanity on display here. Absurd plot lines like this one were often found in the wilds of Mexi-horror, but Spain seemed to be up to the challenge of creating equally fun, if kooky crapola of the highest order. 

  

The plot here makes very little sense and the inexplicable nature of the narrative leaves little room for comprehension, forcing one to either shut off their brain, or their DVD player. This Euro kitchen sink stink has a little bit of everything floating around in its rainbow colored cesspool. There's an El Cheapo "central control" set, dozens of flashing sci-fi lights, a Spanish disco scene, flashy colors, an ambitious scope the films $1.95 budget can never realize and a cadre of monsters including Naschy as Daninsky, a skinny mummy (the subs refer to it as female?) and a Farancksalan Monster that looks suspiciously like Scott Bakula.

According to Naschy's memoirs, this movie had a heftier than usual price tag applied to it. A few directors were attached to the project including Spanish director Hugo Fregonese, who had done directing jobs in Hollywood. He worked on the film for a few weeks before walking away from it enabling Tulio Demichelli to take over. American actor, Robert Taylor was initially desired for the role, and reportedly, the actor personally contacted Naschy about doing the picture. In the end, the role went to Michael Rennie who arrived in noticeably ill health.

  

Despite being given a larger than usual budget, the several months of trouble the picture faced took its toll on the production till Isasi Isasmendi (presumably the same man responsible for directing SUMMERTIME KILLER in 1972) stepped in and helped out on the film enabling it to be completed.

 

ASSIGNMENT TERROR has nary a dull moment and not only is this all mon-star mash assembled with (body) parts of better movies, it also has an exceptional cast in front of the camera, too. Michael Rennie (likely best remembered as Klaatu from the iconic 1951 science fiction classic THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL) masquerades as Dr. Warnoff, the head alien sent to Earth to take over by using old classic Universal movie monsters; an ingenious idea for planetary conquest if I ever heard one.

Apparently, these aliens from the oddly named planet of Ummo (like 'Uno', but with two m's) are disembodied spirits who need human bodies to survive. The script doesn't really explain what they are, nor does it say how the head alien came to find Dr. Warnoff's body. There's also no explanation given as to why this Plan 9 From Outer Space requires the mass production of vampires, werewolves and mummies when it's stated these otherworldly beings have more potent means for taking over the planet.

  

Michael Rennie is the evil Dr. Warnoff, although he looks more a tired Dr. Wornout than anything else. Rennie also seems terribly disinterested in this movie, particularly in such scenes where he is performing open heart surgery on Waldemar Daninsky to remove a fatal silver bullet (actual surgery footage is used here!), or revivifying the silliest looking Frankenstein Monster since the slapdash creation of Hammer's THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN (1964). This was the actors final film before dying in 1971 from Emphysema.

 

Paul Naschy has little to do here except skulk around in both hairy and human form. His werewolf scenes are energetic to say the least, even if the make up and fangs aren't up to par with other entries. He gets scant few lines of dialog and doesn't even utter anything at all till past the halfway point. Because of this and the additional gaggle of ghouls, this never feels exclusively like a Naschy movie.

After his body is operated on, Warnoff orders he be given a serum to keep him from changing into a werewolf. Yet that night, he changes anyways and escapes, killing a girl and menacing another. Later on we see him being given this serum. Also, a Mr. Sternberg mentions meeting Daninsky, yet we never see this happen. Possibly there were editing mishaps, too? The highlight, and likely a pleasurable one for Naschy, is that he gets to tussle with two horror heavyweight icons during the finale.

First it's a fist flyin' bandage burner with the Mummy, who goes out in a uniquely creative fashion. Naschy himself took on a much more vigorous, and gore happy cloth wrapped avenger in THE MUMMY'S REVENGE in 1973.

Then it's a slugfest with the lumbering Farancksalan's Monster, a creature who has no difficulty opening doors, using keys, pulling levers, and yet seems to walk around with his eyes closed! Daninsky and the Creature toss each other around paying respectable tribute to 1943s FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLFMAN as they destroy the cardboard control room sets as electric sparks enthusiastically explode around them. Incidentally, Warnoff states this creature is driven electrically, even though this poor man's Frankenstein's Monster is electrocuted at the end!

  

Craig Hill, an American actor, took time off in between Italian western roles to play the determined cop on the case of both the missing and the murdered. He's one of the few civic figures in films that immediately jumps to the (correct) conclusion that the crimes are the work of monsters. You could say Inspector Tobermann was the prototype for KOLCHAK, THE NIGHT STALKER. If you're familiar with his numerous western film roles, seeing Hill in a non-sagebrush setting is a welcome change of pace.

The lovely Karin Dor plays the alien Maleva, who has hijacked the corpse of Melissa Kerstein. Dor was a familiar face in Euro horror and also westerns. She graced the screen in such influential western pictures as the German production TREASURE OF SILVER LAKE (1962), a film which begat a slew of sequels and helped usher in the Italian brand of western. Dor was also a beautiful presence in the supreme Gothic German horror film THE TORTURE CHAMBER OF DR. SADISM (1967) starring Christopher Lee and Lex Barker.

The music score by Franco Solima is below par and sometimes sounds like it belongs in another movie. Much like the out of place score for Naschy's bewildering VENGEANCE OF THE ZOMBIES (1972), the quirky late 60s disco cues only add to the unevenness of the whole enterprise.

Far from a classic, this obscure entry in Spanish horror cinema delivers brain-dead thrills in spades. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll likely be reminded of how it was being a kid staying up late to watch these kinds of movies on the late, late show long after your parents have gone to sleep. I wonder if Fred Dekker had this movie in mind when doing THE MONSTER SQUAD (1987)? Grab your popcorn and coke, sit back and be entertained by this woefully ridiculous, highly entertaining piece of Euro horror goodness. 

This review is representative of the R2 Film Art PAL DVD.